Morgan Stanley considered eleven factors and took them into
account for over the past decade.

High-performing retailers were protected from what Morgan Stanley
called the "Amazon threat" and demonstrated comparable sales
growth. These struggling retailers are ostensibly not
invincible from the imminent rise of Amazon and have demonstrated
poor sales growth over the past ten years.

Many of these retailers are in transition phases now, working to
undo the past.

JCPenney

JCPenney is working to
turn itself around.Scott Olson/Getty
Images

JCPenney's CEO Marvin Ellison has been working to turn around the department store. The company
has been seeing progress, but it still has its Ron Johnson years
behind it. In fact, at the Women's Wear Daily Apparel &
Retail CEO Summit in New York City in October,
Ellison highlighted how during Johnson's time as
CEO,JCPenney abandoned its target customer— the mid-tier customer.

Kohl's

Bella
Thorne shops Candie's brand at Kohl's in Los
Angeles.AP

Kohl's has been working to improve itself with what the brand has
been calling Greatness Agenda. Carter Harrison of
consulting firm Conlumino highlighted that the retailer
"remains a company in transition." Harrison notes that
because of this transitory phase, "the upcoming fiscal year
will be one of mixed progress rather than consistent gains and
uplifts."

Chico's

A photo posted by Chico's (@lovechicos) on Mar 17, 2016 at 7:21am PDT on
Mar 17, 2016 at 7:21am PDT

"Forty-year-old women are not dressing in the sort of
frumpy way that their mothers dressed," said Liz Dunn, CEO
of consulting firm Talmage Advisors, toldBloomberglast
year. "There’s a lot more interest in looking
youthful. It’s a lot harder for Ann Taylor and Chico’s to
compete."

And don't forget the millennial curse. Dunn also told Bloomberg
that stores, such as Chico's, that targeted professional women
have not managed to captivate younger audiences.